Spring loaded railway car hopper car door

ABSTRACT

A spring assist unit for a discharge door of a hopper car or the like serving both as a spring loaded retaining door stop and an assist means for the closing of the door. The unit comprises an elongated spring support and a support guide assembly. The forward end of the spring support is pivotally affixed to a portion of the hopper door. The rearward end of the support guide assembly is pivotally affixed to an appropriate brace member of the hopper car. The rearward end of the spring support is slidably mounted in an opening in the forward end of the support guide assembly. A helical spring surrounds the spring support with one end of the spring in abutting relationship with the forward end of the spring support and the other end of the spring in abutting relationship with the forward end of the support guide assembly. The spring support has abutment surfaces thereon adapted to cooperate with the forward end of the support guide assembly to determine the open-most position of the hopper door. The spring assist unit may also be provided with means to adjust the open-most position of the hopper door.

United States Patent [1 1 Molloy et al.

[ Dec. 4, 1973 SPRING LOADED RAILWAY CAR HOPPER Primary Examiner'Gerald M. Forlenza CAR DOOR Assistant Examiner -Howard Beltran 75 Inventors: Robert E. Molloy; John A. Ritter, Melvue at both of Cincinnati, Ohio [73] Assignee: Ortner Freight Car Company, [57] ABSTRACT Cmcmnati Ohio A spring assist unit for a discharge door of a hopper [22] Filed; 2 1972 car or the like serving both as a spring loaded retaining door stop and an assist means for the closing of the PP N04 277,298 door. The unit comprises an elongated spring support and a support guide assembly. The forward end of the 52 us. (:1 105/253, 16/72, 105/284, Spring PP is Pivotahy mixed to a Portion of the 105/285, 267/171, 267/175 hopper door. The rearward end of the support guide 51 1m. (:1 B61d 7/18, B61d 7/26, B61d 43/00 assembly is Pivotelly affixed to an appropriate brace [58] Fieldot Search 16/72; 105/240, 244, member of the pp The rearward end of the I 105 253 2 4 285 2 267/60 171 175 spring support 18 slidably mounted in an opening in the forward end of the support guide assembly. A helical [56] References Cited spring surrounds the spring support with one end of UNITED STATESPATENTS the spring in abutting relationship with the forward end of the spring support and the other end of the spring in abutting relationship with the forward end of 2 478 608 I 8/l9 105,244 the support guide assembly. The spring support has 3 12/1950 105/286 abutment surfaces thereon adapted to cooperate with 2:650:386 9/1953 16/72 x the forward end of thesupport guide assembly to de-' 3,192,876 7/1965 Ormer 105 284 termine the Open-most Position of the pp door- 3,315,61'6 4/1967 Beaver et al. 105/285 X The spring assist unit may also be provided with 3,596,609 8/1971 Ortner 105/253 means to adjust the open-most position of the hopper 3,626,865 12/1971 Aquino et al. 105/240 (1001 4 3,712,248 1/1973 Floehr l05/284X I 15 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures 1 Int ill 1" 5 5 6 A3 9 1 I j 7 H 1 P\ A -i ow wee/4 5 n w A M)" SPRING LOADED RAILWAY CAR HOPPER CAR DOOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a spring assist unit, ,andmore particularly to a spring assist unit for use with ahoppercar door or the like, to serve not only asa spring loaded. stop means, but also as an assist means for closing the hopper door.

2. Description of the Prior Art The present invention is directed to an improvement upon the spring-mechanism for use in conjunction with hopper car doors taught in.U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,876.

Heretofore hopper cars were so constructed that the interior of the car body was divided into a.nurnber of chutes having sloping walls extending'across the interior of the car body. Each chute had a substantially triangular cross section and the lowermost portion of each chute terminated in a single or arcooperating pair of relatively small hopper doors. Once the doors had been released and the car load had been discharged, it was common practice for the doors to be closed manually.

Recently, however, there has been a growing demand for larger hopper cars of greater capacity. In such modern hopper cars the entire car body comprises a single hopper closed across its bottom by coacting pairs of relatively large hopper doors. When the'hopper doors of such cars are opened, substantially the entire car bottom is open, interrupted only by. a relatively'small number of narrow brace members by which the doors are supported and which are configured to assist in the discharge of the car load. An exemplaryembodiment of such a modern hopper car is shown in U.S. Pat. No.- 3,596,609.

As taught in the last mentioned patent the modern hopper car is frequently provided with automatic door actuating means. However, there are some'instances wherein it is desirable for such a car to have manually actuated hopper doors. While the manual release and opening'of such doors may be readily accomplished (the doors being opened not only by virtue of their own weight, but also by virtue of the load within the car), the manual closing of such doors does present a considerable problem because of their large size and great weight.

To overcome this problem, spring assistmeans have been developed such as the one taught in the above mentioned Pat. No. 3,192,876. The performance of the prior art spring assist means has been excellent, particularly when the hopper cars were used to carry such materials as coal, wood chips and the like. However,

when the loads consisted of very heavy material such as aggregate (the weight of which can go as high as 130 pounds or more per cubic foot), sufficient stress was applied to the spring assist means duringthe door opening operation to cause parts thereof to bend or fracture.

It has further been found that after prolonged use the prior art spring assist means would tend to wear with the result that when serving in its capacity as a door stop means, it would gradually permit the door to open wider and wider. This problem can continue to the point where the sealing edge of the door hits-the rail.

The present invention is directed to an improved spring assist unit capable of withstanding the shocks imposed upon it by very heavy loads. Furthermore,

means are provided by which the spring assist unit may be adjusted so that even though subject to wear, it may continue to properly serve in its capacity as a door stop means.

SUMMARY OI TI-IE INVENTION Depending upon the nature of the hopper car and its doors, one or more spring assist units of the present invention may be used'for each door. Each spring assist unit comprises a door mounting lug, an underframe mounting lug, a spring support, a support guide assembly and a helical spring. The door mounting lug is affixed to an appropriate portion of the door, such as a brace member. The spring support is an elongated member the forward end of which is pivotally affixed to the door mounting lug.

The underframe mounting lug is affixed to any suitable portion of the hopper car underframe, depending upon the construction of the car. In manyapplications, it may be affixed to the center sill. The rearward end of the support guide assembly is pivotally affixed to the underframe mounting lug. The forward end of the sup- Inassernbly, the helical spring surrounds the elongated spring support. The forward end of the helical spring is in abutting relationship with the forward end of the spring support. The rearward end of the helical spring is in abutting relationship with the forward end of the support guide assembly. By this arrangement, the helical spring tends to urge the forward end of the spring support away from the forward end of the sup port guide assembly which, in turn,- urges the hopper door to its closed position.

When the hopper door is released and'caused to open by virtue of the weight of the load within the hopper car, the spring support telescopes within the support guide assembly compressing the helical spring. The depth to which the rearward end of the spring support enters the support guide assembly is determined by a pair of abutment surfaces on the spring support which cooperate with the foreward end of the support guide assembly. These last mentioned abutments also serve to determine the lowermost or open-most position of the hopper door. In this fashion, the spring assist unit of the present invention serves as a spring loaded door stop.

When the door is in its fully open position, the pivot point between the door mounting lug and forward end of the spring support and the pivot point between the rearward end of the support guide assembly and the underframe mounting lug bear such a relationship to the hinge point of the door that there is little or no moment of force tending to return the hopper door to its closed position. As a result, the door will remain open and the spring assist unit will remain in its spring-loaded condition. A slight manual urging of the door toward its closed position will change the relative position of the above mentioned pivot points and the hinge point such that the spring assist unit will cause the door to move to its fully closed position.

The spring assist unit is so constructed that its parts will not be subjected to bending or fracture during the door opening operation. Furthermore, adjustment means may be provided whereby the desired open-most position of the door may be adjusted and maintained,

even if the spring assists unit has become worn through use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a simplified side elevational view of a typical modern hopper car.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the hopper car of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly in cross section, illustrating a pair of hopper doors in closed position and provided with the spring assist unit of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly in cross section, illustrating the right-hand door of FIG. 3 in its open position.

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the door of FIG. 4 provided with a pair of the spring assist units of the present invention and shown in its open-most position.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are respectively a side elevational view and a plan view of the spring support.

FIG. 8 is an end view of the spring support as seen from the right in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the spring guide assembly.

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of the spring guide assembly taken along section line 10-10 of FIG. 11.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the spring guide assembly.

FIG. 12 is an end view of the spring guide assembly as seen from the left in FIG. 9.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the spring assist unit of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary elevational view of the spring support illustrating adjustment means thereon.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS While the spring assist units of the present invention may be adapted for use with substantially any type of hopper car, for purposes of an exemplary showing they will be described in their application on a modern hopper car of the type taught in the above mentioned Pat. No. 3,596,609. turning first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the hopper car comprises an elongated body generally indi cated at 1, mounted on conventional trucks 2. The car body comprises vertical sidewalls 3 and 4 together with inclined end walls or slope sheets 5 and 6.

The body 1 is mounted on an underframe comprising a longitudinally extending center sill 7, longitudinally extending side sills (one of which is shown at 8) and transverse brace members 9 extending from the center sill to the side sills. It will be understood that both the underframe and the car body will be provided with additional bracing members and the like, the nature of which does not constitute a limitation on the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the slope sheets 5 and 6 extend downwardly to pairs of rectangular discharge openings generally indicated at 10 and 11, the openings 10 and serve not only to break up the load, but also to guide it during the discharge operation.

The upper edges of the hopper doors 14 through 21 are hingedly affixed to the adjacent ones of the transverse underframe braces 9.

In order to accommodate the center sill 7, each of the hopper doors is split, i.e. has two closure panels joined by an appropriate transverse-brace member. Thus, hopper door 14 is shown as having closure panels 14a and 14b in FIGS. 2 and 5. The closure panels 140 and 14b are joined by transverse brace 24 (shown in FIGS. 3 through 5). Similarly, door 15 in FIG. 2 is shown as having closure panels 15a and 15b. As indicated in FIG. 3, the closure panels are joined by a transverse brace member 25. It will be understood that the remainder of the hopper doors are similarly constructed. The rest of the construction of the individual hopper doors does not constitute a limitation on the present invention. Depending upon their particular configuration and construction, the closure panels may have additional brace means, sealing edges and the like.

In FIG. 3, wherein like parts have been given like index numerals, hopper doors 14 and 15 are illustrated in their closed position. As indicated above, the upper edges of the doors are hingedly affixed to; the adjacent ones of the transverse underbody braces 9. For door 14, for example, there will be one or more hinge means for each closure panel. One such hinge means is shown at 26. The door 15 will be provided with similar hinge means, one of which is shown at 27.

Despite the fact that doors of the type thus far described are both large and heavy, it has generally been found sufficient to provide one spring assist unit of the present invention per door. This is illustrated in FIG. 3 wherein doors 14 and 15 are each provided with a spring assist unit generally indicated at 280 and 28b respectively. However, when the hopper car is to carry particularly heavy loads or when the hopper doors are of particularly heavy construction, two spring assist units may be provided for each door. To illustrate this, FIG. 5 shows door 14 provided with two ispring assists units 28a and 280. i

As is shown in FIG. 3, the spring assist units 28a and 28b are mounted at one end on the transverse brace 24 of door 14 and transverse brace 25 of door 15, respectively. At the other end the units are mdunted to the center sill 7. i

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, both spririg assist units are mounted at one end to the transverse brace 24 of door 14, the upper ends of the units being mounted to the lower ends of legs 7a and 7b of the; center sill 7.

When each door has a single spring assist unit (as in FIG. 3), it is preferred (although not required) that for purposes of balance the upper end of spring assist unit 28a be affixed to one of the legs and 7bof the center sill, while the upper end of spring assist unit 28b be mounted to the other of legs 70 and 7b.

It will be understood that all of the doors 14 through 21 will be provided with one or a pair of the spring assist units. It will further be understood; thatall of the spring assist unitsfor all of the doors maybe identical.

For a proper understanding of the spn'iig assist unit of the present invention reference is briefly made to FIG. 13 wherein the basic parts are shown. The unit comprises a spring support 29, a support guide assembly 30 and a helical spring 31. The forward end of the spring support 29 will be affixed to the transverse door brace by means of a bifurcated lug 32 and a pivot pin 33. In similar fashion, the rearward end of thesupport guide 30 will be pivotally affixed to the center sill 7 by means of the underframe mounting lug 34'and an appropriate pivot pin 35.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8* wherein the spring support 29 is most clearly shown. While the spring support may be fabricated of individual parts welded or otherwise joined together, itis preferably and more economically produced as a one-piece, integral casting and is illustrated as such in the above noted Figures.

The forward end of the spring support comprises a substantially triangular nose portion 362T he forwardmost end of the portion 36 is rounded as'at 36a. At the rear end of the portion 36 there is a circular plate-like structure 37. The portion 36 and circular structure 37' may be appropriately reinforced by integral rib members 38a, 38b, 39a and 39b.

The circular structure 37 is, in turn, located at the forward end of the elongated shankof the spring sup port. The shank is generally indicated at 40 and is divided into a forward portion 40a and a rearward portion 40b by a pair of diametrically opposed, integral lugs 41 and 42 on either side of the shank 40. The lugs 41 and 42 are substantially identical and present abutment surfaces 41a and 42a, the purpose of which .will 1 be described hereinafter.

The shank40 has, extending the length thereof, integral reinforcing ribs 43 and 44. The ribs-43 and 44 not only add strength to the structure, but also those portions of the ribs along the rearward portion 40b of the shank serve as guide means for the telescoping; action of the spring support within the support guide assemblylar structure 37 to the lugs 41 and 42. The forward ends of thebraces 45 and 46 flare outwardly to form shoul-' ders 47 and 48, respectively. These shoulders, together with the reinforcing ribs 43 and 44, will serve as centering means to maintain the forward end of 'the helical spring 31 centered upon the circular structure 37 (see FIG. 13).

The forward end or triangular portion 36 of the spring support will have a perforation 49 therein to receive pivot pin 33 by which it is affixedito the door mounting lug 32 (see FIG. 13). Finally, the rearward portion 40b of the shank 40 is provided with a relief 50, the purpose of which will also be described hereinafter.

Returning to FIG. 13, the door mounting lug 32 is preferably a casting comprising simply-a' rectangular base32a with a pair of spaced ears 32b and 320 thereon forming the bifurcations. The ears 32b and 32c will have a pair of coaxial perforations therein,= one of which is shown at 32d. The forward portion 36 of the.

with the ear perforations. The pivot pin 33 isthen placed through the aligned perforations so that the forward. end of the spring support 29 is pivotally affixed to the lug 32. In FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, lugs 32are shown affixed to the transverse door brace 24.0f door 14 and the transverse door brace 25 of door 15. It will be understood that the nature of the pivot pin 33 does not constitute a limitation on the present invention. Once installed, any appropriate means-may be used to prevent accidential removal of the pin 33 from the perforations in the spring support 29 and lug 32. For example, cotterv pins, clip means or other appropriate devices may be used. Similarly, the pivot pin may have a head on one end, the other end being threaded to receive, a nut or the like.

Reference is now to FIGS. 9 through 12 wherein the support guide assembly 30 is clearly shown. Again, the support guide .may be fabricated of individual parts welded or otherwise joined together. However, it is preferable and more economical to manufacture the support guide assembly as an integral, one-piece cast- The support guide assembly has a pair of sides 51 and 52 joined together along their bottom edges by an integral web 53 and along a portion of their top edges by an integral web 54. The sides 51 and 52 are mirror images of each other, both sides having a first sloping surface 55 and a second sloping surface 56 joined by an arcuate surface 57 (see FIG. 9). Adjacent these surfaces, both sides 51 and 52 have downwardly and inwardly sloping reliefs 58 and 59, respectively, so that adequate clearance with respect to the center sill and the lug 34 will be assured.

At its'forward end, the support guide assembly has a substantially circular portion 60 integral with the sides Stand 52 and the webs 53 and 54. The circular portion 7 60 has a rectangular perforation 61 therein. This perforation is configured to slidingly receive the rearward portion 40b of the spring support shank 40 and the integral reinforcing ribs 43 and 44 thereon. 43 on the spring support shank will coo erate with the webs 53 and 54, respectively, to assure proper alignment between spring support 29 and the support guide assembly 30 at all positions of the spring support within the perforation .61 of the support guideassembly.

For added strength and to facilitate ca'sting, the sides 51 and 52 may be provided with substantially triangular bulges 62 and 63, respectively. It will be evidentfrom FIGS. 9 through 12 that these bulges 62 d 63 will additionally' reinforce the substantially c'rcular portion 60. I

The forward face of the substantially circular portion 60 may be provided with integral lugs 64 through 67. The lugs 64 through 67 are adapted to extend within the helicalspring 31 (see FIG. 13) andltiereby maintain the spring centered with respect to the circular portion 60. i 4

Finally, the sides 51 and 52 of the support guide assembly 30 may have coaxial perforations 68 and 69 therein. As will be evident from FIG. 13, the sides 51- and 52 of the support guide assembly are adapted to lie on either side of the underframe mounting lug 34 with the perforations 68 and 69 coaxial with the perforation 34a in the underframe mounting lug. Once in alignment, the pivot pin 35 may be located the perfora- {he ribs 44 and surrounding the perforations 68 and 69. The attachment'of the support guide assembly 30 to the underframe mounting lug 34 and the affixing of the underframe mounting lug 34 to the center sill 7 of the hopper car is clearly shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

The operation of the spring assist unit of the present invention may be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. It will be understood that the spring assist unit 28b for door 15, and all of the remaining doors, will be identical so that it will be necessary only to describe the operation of the spring assist unit 280 of door 14.

FIG. 3 illustrates doors 14 and 15 in their closed position. It will be noted that the spring assist unit 28a on door 14 has its door mounting lug 32 affixed to the transverse door brace 24 and its underframe mounting lug 34 affixed to the center sill 7. In FIG. 3 it will be noted that the pivot point or pin 35 between the support guide assembly 30 and the underframe mounting lug 34 lies considerably to the right of an imaginary line passing through the pivot point or pin 33 between the spring support 29 and the door mounting lug 32 and the hinge point 26. It will be evident, therefore, that the force exerted by spring 31 will urge the door 14 toward its closed position and will continue to do so once the door has been fully closed and latched.

In FIG. 4, like parts have been given like index numerals. FIG. 4 illustrates the door 14 of FIG. 3 in its openlmost position. It will be evident from the Figure that as the door is unlatched and caused to move to its open position under the weight of the load in the hopper car the unit 28a will serve as a spring-loaded door stop. The unit will permit the door to swing downwardly until the abutment surfaces 41a and 41b on the spring support contact the forward face of the circular portion 60 of the support guide assembly 30. Since the abutment lugs 41 and 42 are located substantially centrally of the shank of the spring support 29, the tendency for the shank to bend is greatly reduced. Furthermore, the relief 50 at the end of the shank insures that the underframe mounting lug 34 and the pivot pin 35 therein will not be contacted by the spring support.

The opening of the door 14 will automatically compress the spring 31. However, the spring will not act to reclose the door, but the door and the spring assist unit will remain in the position shown in FIG. 4. This is true because of the relative positions of pivot points or pins 33 and 35 and hinge point 26. Thus, the tendency of the spring is simply to act upon the pivot pins 33 and 35, but there is little or no moment of force tending to return the door to the closed position. It will further be noted, however, that the pivot pin or point 35 still lies slightly to the right of an imaginary line passing through the pivot pin or point 33 and the hinge point 26 of the door. Therefore, the door has not passed through an over-center position. As a consequence, a slight manual movement of the door toward its closed position will cause the spring assist unit to return the door to its fully closed position.

It will be understood that the sloping surfaces 56 on sides 51 and 52 of the support guide assembly 30 (see FIG. 9) are so configured as to cooperate with the bottom edge of the leg of center sill 7. Should, through any failure of the spring assist unit, the lowermost position of the door not be properly determined by the abutment of spring support surfaces 410 and 42a and the surface of element 60 of the spring guide assembly, the sloping surfaces 56 of the spring support guide assembly will contact the lowermost edge of the leg of center sill 7 and preclude the door from passing through an over center position.

As indicated above, through continued use the spring assist unit is subjected to wear. If the wear becomes excessive, the door. may be permitted to drop to a position wherein it will contact the rails. Under some circumstances and with some unloading facilities there may be other objects which the door might otherwise contact and it therefore may be desirable that the Spring assist unit be provided with some means for adjusting the lowermost position of the door.

One such means is illustrated in FIG. 6 wherein the forwardmost member 36 of the spring support 29 is provided with a hexagonal hole 72. A hexagonal nut 73 is located in the hole 72 and the hole 49 through which pivot pin 33 is intended to pass is eccentrically positioned in the nut 73.

The sides of the nut 73 are indicated at 73a through 73f. One of the sides of the hexagonal perforation 72 is indicated at 72a. It will readily be understood that if pivot pin 33 is removed and theforward end 36 of the spring support 29 is withdrawn from between the birfurcations 32b and 32c of the door mounting lug 32, the nut 73 can be removed from the perforation 72 and reinserted with any of its sides adjacent the perforation side 72a. When the side 73a of nut 73 is adjacent the perforation side 72a the hopper door 14 will drop to its lowermost adjusted position. If either side 72b or 73c of the nut is located adjacent the perforation side 72a the door will be raised slightly. If nut sides 73c or 73d are located adjacent perforation side 72a the door will be raised yet more. Finally, if nut side 73f is located adjacent perforation side 72a the door will be in its high est adjusted open position. Thus, through proper orientation of the nut 73 within the hexagonal perforation 72, at least four adjusted positions can be achieved.

An alternate adjustment means is illustrated in FIG. 14 wherein like parts have been given like index numerals. In this Figure, the nut 73 has been replaced by a splined adjustment means 74. The forward end 36 of the spring support 29 is provided with a perforation 75 adapted to receive the splined adjustment means. The perforation 49 is eccentrically located in splined adjustment means 74. Adjustment of the bottom-most position attainable by the door is accomplished in much the same way described with respect to FIG. 6. That is, it is accomplished by appropriately orienting the splined adjustment 74 within the perforation 75. The advantage of the splined adjustment 74 over the hexagonal nut 73 lies primarily in the fact that it affords a finer adjustment. Of course, the nut 73 of FIG. 6 need not be hexagonal. It could, for example, be provided with as many sides as are practical.

It will be noted from FIG. 11 that the support guide assembly 30 has, immediately behind the circular portion 60, a pair of coaxial holes 76 and 77 in its side walls 51 and 52, respectively. Similarly,the spring support 29 has a perforation 78 (surrounded by reinforcing bosses) in the rearward portion 40b of the spring support shank 40.

The perforations 76, 77 and 78 enable the easy installation of the spring assistunit of the present invention. At the time of installation, the spring support 29, helical spring 31 and support guide assembly 30 are assembled and partially compressed (by any suitable means) until the spring support perforation 78 is coaxial with the support guide assembly perforations 76 and 77'. At this point, a rod, bolt, or other suitable implement may be inserted in these coaxial perforations and the spring assist unit is locked in its partially compressed position. Thereafter, the spring assist unit may be pivotally affixed to lugs 32 and 34 by pivot pin means 33: and 35, respectively. Through the agency of the hopper door itself, the spring assist unit is slightly additionally compressed enabling the easy release of the implement in perforations 76 through 78 and the spring assist unit will cause the door to move to its fully closed position.

For removal of the spring assist unit for repair, adjustment or replacement, a substantially identical procedure is followed. The hopper door is caused to open and the spring assist unit is compressed until perforat'ions 76 through 78 are in coaxial alignment; Through the use of an appropriate implement inserted in these perforations the spring assist unit may be locked in its compressed condition and removed from the hopper car by removal of pivot pin means 33 and 35.

Modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit of it. For example, although the spring assist unit has been described in terms of its use with a hopper car of the type having transverse doors, it could readily be adapted for use with hopper cars of the type having longitudinally extending doors.

Shim-type adjustment means may be used in conjunction with or in place of the adjustment nut 73 of FIG. 6 or the splined adjustment means 74 of FIG. 14. Such shim-type adjustment means are illustrated in FIG. 13. It will be understood that when the shim-type adjustment means are used in place of nut 73 or spline adjustment means 74, the forward end 36 of the spring support 29 will be an integral portion of the spring support having the perforation 49 formed directly therein.

One type of shim means is shown at 79 and .80. The shim means 79 and 80 are adapted to be affixed to the abutment surfaces 41a and 42a of lugs 41 and 42, respectively. The manner in which the shims 79 and 80 are affixed to the lugs 41 and 42 does not constitute a limitation on the present invention. They may, for example, be applied by suitable adhesive means, or through the use of appropriate fastening means. It will be understood that when the door is in its open position, the shims 79 and 80 will be in abutting relationship with the forward face of the substantiallycircular portion 60 of the support guide assembly. Therefore, shims 79 and 80 will raise the lowermost position attainable by the door in accordance with the thickness of the shims.

Yet another type of shim means is shown in FIG. 13 at 81. This shim means comprises a substantially circular plate having a central perforation 82 configured to expose the perforation 61 in the substantially .circular portion 60 of the supportguide assembly and further configured to accommodate the spring centering lugs 64 through 67. Application of the shim 81 to the spring assist unit requires disassembly of the spring assist unit. While it may be, it is not necessary to affix the shim 8 1 to the forward face of the substantially circular portion 60 of the support guide assembly, because it will be held in position by the helical spring 31. In operation, the shim 81 will serve the same function described with respect to shims 79 and 80, the abutment surfaces on lugs 41 and 42 contacting the shim 81 when the door is in its open-most position. As indicated above, the various adjustment means described herein may be used individually, or appropriate combinations of them may be used. i j

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as'follows:

1. A spring-loaded door stop and door closing unit for a discharge door of a railroad hopper car of the type wherein said door is hingedly affixed at a t'least two points to the underframe of said hopper car and is swingable between a closed position and a downwardly depending open position, said unit comprising a spring support, a support guide assembly and a helical spring, said spring support comprising an elongated'shank with a forward end pivotally affixed to said door,said support guide assembly having a forward end with a perforation to slidingly receive said shank of said spring support and a rearward end pivotally afiixed to said car underframe, said helical spring surrounding said spring support with its forward end abutting said spring support forward end and its rearward end abutting said forward end of said support guide assembly, whereby said spring support shank will telescope within said spring support guide assembly and said spring will be compressed when said door opens, means to maintain said unit in said telescope condition and said spring in said compressed condition'until said door is urged slightly toward said closed condition, whereupon said spring will be free to elongate and said unit will close said door, abutment means on said spring support shank adapted to cooperate with said forward end of said support guide assembly to determine the open-most position of said door.

2. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said forward end of said spring support comprises an abutment structure at the forward end of said shank and extending transversely thereof, the rearward surface of said abutment structure being in abutting relationship with said forward end of said helical spring, the forward surface of said abutment structure having a nose portion thereon adapted to be pivotally affixed to said door.

3. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said support guide assembly comprises a pair of sides maintained in parallel spaced relationship by joining webs along their top and bottom edges, an abutment structure at the forward end of said support guide assembly extending transversely of said sides, said abutment structure having a hole therein, the rearward end of said spring support shank being slidably received in said hole and extending between said sides, said support, guide assembly abutment structure having a forward surface in abutting relationship with said rearward end of said helical spring and adapted to be abutted by said abutment means on said spring support shank to determine said open-most position of said door, a lug on said underframe of said hopper car, said underframe lug extending between said sides at said rearward end of said support guide assembly, coaxial perforations in said sides and said underframe lug and pivot pin means extending through said coaxial perforations whereby said support guide assembly is pivotally affixed to said underframe lug.

4. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said abutment means on said spring support shank comprises a pair of diametrically opposed lugs on opposite sides of said shank and between the ends thereof.

5. The structure claimed in claim 1 including a bifurcated lug affixed to said hopper door, said forward end of said spring support being located between said door lug bifurcations, said door lug bifurcations and said forward end of said spring support having coaxial perforations and pivot pin means extending through said coaxial perforations whereby said spring support is pivotally affixed to said door lug.

6. The structure claimed in claim including means to adjust said open-most position of said door, said adjustment means comprising a hole in said forward end of said spring support, said hole having a plurality of equal planar sides, a nut having sides equal in number and length to said sides of said hole whereby said nut may be received in said hole and oriented in a number of ways therein equal to the number of sides thereof,

said perforation in said forward end of said spring support to receive said pivot pin means being eccentrically located in said nut whereby the open-most position of said door may be determined by the orientation of said nut in said hole.

7. The structure claimed in claim 5 including means to adjust said open-most position of said door, said adjustment means comprising a splined adjustment means receivable in an appropriately configured hole in said forward end of said spring sup'pcrt, said perforation in said forward end of said spring support to receive said pivot pin means being eccentrically located in said splined adjustment means whereby the open-most position of said door may be determined by the orientation of said splined adjustment means in said hole.

8. The structure claimed in claim 7 including a bifurcated lug affixed to said hopper door, said forward end of said spring support being located between said door lug bifurcations, said door lug bifurcations and said forward end of said spring support having coaxial perforations and pivot pin means extending through said coaxial perforations whereby said spring support is pivotally affixed to said door lug.

9. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said forward end of said spring support comprising an abutment structure at the forward end of said shank and extending transversely thereof, the rearward surface of said abutment structure being in abutting relationship with said forward end of said helical spring, the forward surface of said abutment structure having a nose portion thereon adapted to be pivotally affixed to said door, said support guide assembly comprising a pair of sides maintained in parallel spaced relationship by joining webs along their top and bottom edges, an abutment structure at the forward end of said support guide assembly extending transversely of said sides, said abutment structure having a hole therein, the rearward end of said spring support shank being slidably received in said hole and extending between said sides, said support guide assembly abutment structure having a forward surface in abutting relationship with said rearward end of said helical spring and adapted to be abutted by said abutment means on said spring support shank to determine said open-most position of said door, a lug on said underframe of said hopper car, said underframe lug extending between said sides at said rearward end of said support guide assembly, coaxial perforations in said sides and said underframe lug and pivot pin means extending through said coaxial perforations whereby said support guide assembly is pivotally affixed to said underframe lug.

10. The structure claimed in claim 9 including means to adjust said open-most position of said door, said adjustment means comprising shim means affixable to said abutment means on said spring support.

1 1. The structure claimed in claim 9 including means to adjust said open-most position of said door, said adjustment means comprising a disc-like shim means locatable on said forward surface of said support guide assembly abutment structure, said shim means having a hole therein overlying said hole in said support guide assembly abutment structure and slidingly receiving said spring support shank therethrough.

12. The structure claimed in claim 9 wherein said abutment means on said spring support shank comprises a pair of diametrically opposed lugs on opposite sides of said shank and between the ends thereof.

13. The structure claimed in claim 12 including means for adjusting said open-most position of said door, said means comprising shim means afiixable to each of said lugs on said spring support shank.

14. The structure claimed in claim 1 including means on said unit whereby said open-most position of said door may be adjusted.

15. The structure claimed in claim l4wherein said adjustment means comprising shim means locatable on one of said spring support abutment means and said forward end of said support guide assembly.

a a: t a s 

1. A spring-loaded door stop and door closing unit for a discharge door of a railroad hopper car of the type wherein said door is hingedly affixed at at least two points to the underframe of said hopper car and is swingable between a closed position and a downwardly depending open position, said unit comprising a spring support, a support guide assembly and a helical spring, said spring support comprising an elongated shank with a forward end pivotally affixed to said door, said support guide assembly having a forward end with a perforation to slidingly receive said shank of said spring support and a rearward end pivotally affixed to said car underframe, said helical spring surrounding said spring support with its forward end abutting said spring support forward end and its rearward end abutting said forward end of said support guide assembly, whereby said spring support shank will telescope within said spring support guide assembly and said spring will be compressed when said door opens, means to maintain said unit in said telescope condition and said spring in said compressed condition until said door is urged slightly toward said closed condition, whereupon said spring will be free to elongate and said unit will close said door, abutment means on said spring support shank adapted to cooperate with said forward end of said support guide assembly to determine the open-most position of said door.
 2. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said forward end of said spring support comprises an abutment structure at the forward end of said shank and extending transversely thereof, the rearward surface of said abutment structure being in abutting relationship with said forward end of said helical spring, the forward surface of said abutment structure having a nose portion thereon adapted to be pivotally affixed to said door.
 3. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said support guide assembly comprises a pair of sides maintained in parallel spaced relationship by joining webs along their top and bottom edges, an abutment structure at the forward end of said support guide assembly extending transversely of said sides, said abutment structure having a hole therein, the rearward end of said spring support shank being slidably received in said hole and extending between said sides, said support guide assembly abutment structure having a Forward surface in abutting relationship with said rearward end of said helical spring and adapted to be abutted by said abutment means on said spring support shank to determine said open-most position of said door, a lug on said underframe of said hopper car, said underframe lug extending between said sides at said rearward end of said support guide assembly, coaxial perforations in said sides and said underframe lug and pivot pin means extending through said coaxial perforations whereby said support guide assembly is pivotally affixed to said underframe lug.
 4. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said abutment means on said spring support shank comprises a pair of diametrically opposed lugs on opposite sides of said shank and between the ends thereof.
 5. The structure claimed in claim 1 including a bifurcated lug affixed to said hopper door, said forward end of said spring support being located between said door lug bifurcations, said door lug bifurcations and said forward end of said spring support having coaxial perforations and pivot pin means extending through said coaxial perforations whereby said spring support is pivotally affixed to said door lug.
 6. The structure claimed in claim 5 including means to adjust said open-most position of said door, said adjustment means comprising a hole in said forward end of said spring support, said hole having a plurality of equal planar sides, a nut having sides equal in number and length to said sides of said hole whereby said nut may be received in said hole and oriented in a number of ways therein equal to the number of sides thereof, said perforation in said forward end of said spring support to receive said pivot pin means being eccentrically located in said nut whereby the open-most position of said door may be determined by the orientation of said nut in said hole.
 7. The structure claimed in claim 5 including means to adjust said open-most position of said door, said adjustment means comprising a splined adjustment means receivable in an appropriately configured hole in said forward end of said spring support, said perforation in said forward end of said spring support to receive said pivot pin means being eccentrically located in said splined adjustment means whereby the open-most position of said door may be determined by the orientation of said splined adjustment means in said hole.
 8. The structure claimed in claim 7 including a bifurcated lug affixed to said hopper door, said forward end of said spring support being located between said door lug bifurcations, said door lug bifurcations and said forward end of said spring support having coaxial perforations and pivot pin means extending through said coaxial perforations whereby said spring support is pivotally affixed to said door lug.
 9. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said forward end of said spring support comprising an abutment structure at the forward end of said shank and extending transversely thereof, the rearward surface of said abutment structure being in abutting relationship with said forward end of said helical spring, the forward surface of said abutment structure having a nose portion thereon adapted to be pivotally affixed to said door, said support guide assembly comprising a pair of sides maintained in parallel spaced relationship by joining webs along their top and bottom edges, an abutment structure at the forward end of said support guide assembly extending transversely of said sides, said abutment structure having a hole therein, the rearward end of said spring support shank being slidably received in said hole and extending between said sides, said support guide assembly abutment structure having a forward surface in abutting relationship with said rearward end of said helical spring and adapted to be abutted by said abutment means on said spring support shank to determine said open-most position of said door, a lug on said underframe of said hopper car, said underframe lug extending between said sides at said reaRward end of said support guide assembly, coaxial perforations in said sides and said underframe lug and pivot pin means extending through said coaxial perforations whereby said support guide assembly is pivotally affixed to said underframe lug.
 10. The structure claimed in claim 9 including means to adjust said open-most position of said door, said adjustment means comprising shim means affixable to said abutment means on said spring support.
 11. The structure claimed in claim 9 including means to adjust said open-most position of said door, said adjustment means comprising a disc-like shim means locatable on said forward surface of said support guide assembly abutment structure, said shim means having a hole therein overlying said hole in said support guide assembly abutment structure and slidingly receiving said spring support shank therethrough.
 12. The structure claimed in claim 9 wherein said abutment means on said spring support shank comprises a pair of diametrically opposed lugs on opposite sides of said shank and between the ends thereof.
 13. The structure claimed in claim 12 including means for adjusting said open-most position of said door, said means comprising shim means affixable to each of said lugs on said spring support shank.
 14. The structure claimed in claim 1 including means on said unit whereby said open-most position of said door may be adjusted.
 15. The structure claimed in claim 14 wherein said adjustment means comprising shim means locatable on one of said spring support abutment means and said forward end of said support guide assembly. 